Today's Film News: Miracle at Toronto

By Katey Rich

Though it already announced the standard Cannes hits that will screen come September, the Toronto Film Festival has begun beefing up its lineup with some potential Oscar contenders. Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna will debut at the festival, as will the John Malkovich vehicle Disgrace and the Viggo Mortensen drama Good. Variety writes that the potential teen hit of the fall, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, will screen as well. Maybe it's because we've hit the unofficial halfway mark of the summer, but something about all these potentially prestigious movies is feeling like a welcome break from the summer blockbuster deluge.

I guess Israeli assassins are all the rage these days thanks to You Don't Mess with the Zohan, so much that even highbrow directors are getting in on the gig. The Hollywood Reporter says John Madden (Proof, Shakespeare in Love) will direct a remake of the Israeli drama HaHov, about Israeli intelligence agents on the trail of a former Nazi in both the 1960s and the 90s. Does this sound vaguely like a plot that would have involved Austin Powers 10 years ago?

It's not big news when a handful of random celebrities sign on to be part of a bad cop drama. It is unusual, though, when that movie is the Bad Lieutenant remake being done by Werner Herzog, of all people. Actors as varied as Val Kilmer, the rapper Xzibit, Jennifer Coolidge and The Great Debaters breakout star Denzel Whitaker have all signed on to be part of the movie, according to The Reporter.

And finally, some thrilling news about one of the most famous sci-fi movies ever made. Fritz Lang's Metropolis has been shown in incomplete form for decades after a portion of the film was lost, but now a large part of the missing section has been found in a museum in Argentina, of all places. Helmut Possman, the head of the company that owns the rights to the film, told Variety he felt "a responsibility to make the material available to the public." Viewing party at my house!